June 18th, 2012

Global respondents on the whole would rather be people-savvy than tech-savvy, a recent Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange (Ipsos OTX) and Ipsos Global @dvisor poll has reported. In the global poll, nearly two-thirds of respondents (65 per cent) said they would rather be people-savvy, while only 35 per cent said they would rather be tech-savvy. In Canada, the preference toward people-savvy is even more pronounced, with 75 per cent preferring people-savvy, while the remaining 25 per cent would choose to be tech-savvy.

The Liberal Party is considered a “party of the past”, according to a recent Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of Postmedia News and Global Television. In the poll of 1,010 Canadian adults, 56 per cent of respondent agree (19 per cent “strongly agree”, 38 per cent “somewhat agree”) that the Liberal Party is a party of the past and not of the future. The remaining 44 per cent disagree (12 per cent “strongly disagree”, 32 per cent “somewhat disagree”). A large majority (79 per cent) of Liberal party supporters, however, believe that their party is a party of the future, while 21 per cent of the party’s supporters disagree.

Additionally, over half of Canadians (52 per cent) say that they have “pretty much written off the Liberals”, no matter who is chosen to be the new party leader. The remaining 48 per cent, however, believe that the Liberals can bounce back and become a “force to be reckoned with” again.

British Columbia’s NDPs are the most favoured party among decided voters in that province, a recent Ipsos Reid poll has found. In the survey of 1,026 British Columbians, 48 per cent would vote for the NDP if a provincial election were held. The BC Liberal Party is in second place with 29 per cent, followed by the BC Conservatives at 16 per cent and the Green Party at six per cent.

On a personal note, this post will be my last due to the imminent arrival of my first child, and my need to focus on both my expanding family and the building up of my invitation and event stationery design company, RSVP Designs. I have really enjoyed writing these entries and sharing the results of our nation’s polls with you all. PollingReport will be on a brief hiatus until a replacement blogger is found. Look to our Twitter feed for an announcement when the blog is live again. Thank you.

June 11th, 2012

Herbicide-resistant weeds are becoming a huge problem for Canadian farmers, a recent Ipsos Reid poll for BASF has discovered. Over half (56.2 per cent) of the 500 Canadian farmers (from Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec) surveyed said that the weeds in their fields are getting tougher to control (16.8 per cent “strongly agreed” and 39.4 per cent “somewhat agreed”), while 43.2 per cent disagreed (34.2 per cent “somewhat disagreed” and nine per cent “strongly disagreed”). Additionally, a huge majority (95.8 per cent) of respondents say they use more than one herbicide to manage their weeds (76.6 per cent “strongly agreed” and 19.2 per cent “somewhat agreed”), while only 3.4 per cent disagreed (2.4 per cent “somewhat disagreed” and one per cent “strongly disagreed”). Finally, 27.2 per cent of the farmers surveyed said that herbicide-resistant weeds are having a large to moderate impact on their bottom line (seven per cent said they are having a “large impact”, while 20.2 per cent said they are having a “moderate impact”) and 72.4 per cent said that the weeds are having a small to no impact (47.4 per cent said they are having a “small impact” and 25 per cent said “no impact at all”).

One third of Canadians are not yet ready to cancel their cable subscriptions in favour of their Internet access, a recent Ipsos Reid poll has found. In the survey of 886 respondents, a total of 43 per cent agreed with the statement, “I would choose to cancel my cable/satellite television service before my Internet access” (24 per cent “strongly agreed” and 19 per cent “somewhat agreed”), while 33 per cent disagreed with that statement (12 per cent “somewhat disagreed” and 21 per cent “strongly disagreed”). A large majority (88 per cent) of respondents, however, watched video content on a television with the last week (from when the survey was conducted on March 16 to 21, 2012), while 56 per cent watched video content on a computer.

While retailers are starting to reach consumers on their mobile phones, they still have a way to go, a recent Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange (Ipsos OTX) and Ipsos Global @dvisor global poll has reported. According to this poll, only 29 per cent of people worldwide have opened an email sent by a retailer on their mobile phone. In Canada, that number is even smaller, with only 16 per cent of respondents reading retailer emails on their phones.

Over one third of people worldwide have recommended a brand they “like” or have followed a brand on a social network, according to a recent Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange (Ipsos OTX) and Ipsos Global @dvisor global poll. A total of 38 per cent of respondents in this global poll have said they have “liked” or followed a brand on a social network. In Canada, over a quarter of respondents (27 per cent) have done the same.

May 28th, 2012

Canadians have identified “strengthening Canada’s economic union” as the most important of the five policy priorities listed on our Prime Minister’s website, according to a recent Nanos Survey. In the poll of 1,211 Canadian adults, 39.7 per cent of respondents said this issue is the most important (up from 25.9 per cent in a similar survey conducted last year), followed by “cracking down on gun, gang and drug crime” at 23.4 per cent (down from 33.4 per cent last year), and “improving food and product safety regulations” at 21.8 per cent (down from 22.3 per cent).

The other policy priorities are: “asserting our sovereignty in the Arctic” at 4.1 per cent (down from 7.7 per cent) and “rebuilding the Canadian Armed Forces” at 3.7 per cent (down from 6.6 per cent). The remaining 7.2 per cent of the Canadians polled stated “unsure” as their response.

May 22nd, 2012

If you have a job where you need to interact with people with other countries, chances are you use English to communicate, a recent Ipsos Reid poll has reported. In the poll of 13,644 employees from 26 countries, it was found that over two-thirds (67 per cent) of employees speak English when communicating with people from other countries. In 22 of the 26 countries, English was named the dominant language for business communication between countries. The exceptions are Argentina (53 per cent use Spanish), Brazil (53 per cent use Portuguese), Mexico (46 per cent use Spanish) and Russia (48 per cent use Russian).

Have you ever had the urge to Google your own name and see what comes up? According to a recent Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange (Ipsos OTX) and Ipsos Global @dvisor global poll, 42 per cent of respondents worldwide have, in fact, Googled their own name. Meanwhile, more than half of Canadian respondents have done the same, with 53 per cent saying that they have Googled their own name.

Creativity wins over intelligence, a new Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange (Ipsos OTX) and Ipsos Global @dvisor global poll released today has found. A total of 57 per cent of respondents worldwide say that they would rather be more creative than be smarter, while the remaining 43 per cent would rather be smarter. When narrowed down to just Canada, the results remain much the same, with 55 per cent saying they would rather be more creative and 45 per cent saying they would rather be smarter.

May 14th, 2012

Having the skill to manage a province’s finances is the most important attribute a premier can have, a recent Nanos poll has found. For this survey, the 1,002 Canadian adults polled were asked to rate the different responsibilities of a provincial premier on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being “not at all important” and 10 being “very important”. A total of 47.4 per cent of respondents rated the ability to manage public money as a 10, while 14.3 per cent rated it a 9 and 15.8 per cent rated it an 8. Only 0.6 per cent of respondents rated this ability as a 1.

Setting provincial policies to make a stronger economy was the next highest rated responsibility, with 44 per cent rating this skill as a 10, 16.9 per cent rating it a 9 and 15.4 per cent rating it an 8. The ability to win elections was the lowest rated skill, with only 19.4 per cent rating it at a 10, 11.8 per cent rating it a 9 and 14.9 per cent rating it an 8. For the full results, please go here.

A vast majority of people would give up their mobile phone if they had to choose between it and sex, a recent Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange (Ipsos OTX) and Ipsos Global @dvisor global poll has reported. A total of 78 per cent of respondents worldwide would give up their cell phone, while 22 per cent would give up sex. In Canada, only 12 per cent would give up sex, while the remaining 88 per cent would give up their mobile phone.